THE ART OF LIFE

music

Placebo is probably the first proper British band I really loved. To be honest, it wasn’t love at first sight (sound). In the beginning, I couldn’t stand Brian Molko‘s squeaky voice, I couldn’t find a decent melody in the songs and although I really liked their lyrics, I simply couldn’t listen to the music for more than a couple of minutes.

As my music taste changed over years, there was a time when I became ready to understand Placebo’s music beauty. I even think I know why it was so difficult to like it in the beginning. It’s not easy to understand the fragility, and fragility is the indicator of every sound, word and second of silence of these songs. Brian, who, after over 20 years, fought depression, continuously presents an incoherent, awkward vision of life. In some way, stunning. In some way. And although, for the sake of my psyche, I cannot listen Placebo more than 2 hours per day if I don’t want to end up feeling utterly miserable, I enjoy and appreciate their alternative world of feelings.

Recently, the band decided to say goodbye to their drummer Steve Forrest. Although Steve was loved by the majority of the band’s fans, his leave wasn’t a reason for grief as it didn’t weaken Placebo. Just the opposite: straight after that, Brian and Stefan Forrest started promoting their music in more efficient way through social media, which they used to avoid. They also decided to publish their whole music catalogue on Spotify for the very first time.

Cracking on to their new tour with a new drummer Matt Lunn, they left their fans in an atmosphere of anticipation. As I am waiting for their concert in London, I decided to write down 5 classic Placebo songs I think everyone – no, not should – would like to know.